Do you have a keen interest in traditional theatre performances, or have you ever wondered what exactly is a Noh performance, or any kind of theatre that calls itself “traditional”?

PerformCT, short for Perform Contemporary Tradition, is a virtual space for research on traditional theatre performance in contemporary times. It is an open-access multimedia platform that holds a collection of videos, scholarly writing and visual materials about traditional performance genres in Asia today. The website was created by Assoc. Prof. Lim Beng Choo from the Department of Japanese Studies, in collaboration with NUS Libraries.

A/P Lim has always had a very keen interest in Japanese theatre, digital humanities and traditional performances. As a researcher and teacher in this field, she is always looking for easier access to multimedia materials that are accompanied by scholarly insights. Such resources are not only excellent tools for the classroom, but are also very important for preserving knowledge about traditional performance genres. A/P Lim hopes this platform will enable the public, scholars and practitioners to come together and share information and ideas on traditional theatre performances.

NUS Libraries is glad to play a role in this fascinating project. Besides collaborating in the metadata design for the digital objects in PerformCT, the library team also worked with The Software Practice to design and set up a content management system for the website, as well as set up content creation workflows. It has been an insightful experience in applying digital librarianship skill sets, such as information organisation, information retrieval, user experience, liaison, and digital sustainability, in advancing the goals of making research material more accessible and discoverable.

PerformCT currently has materials from a conference organised by A/P Lim and the Department of Japanese Studies, with support from the Japan Foundation. Over time, more materials from other conferences and workshops about other traditional performances genres will be added to the archive. Discover what’s in store at the website at http://performct.nus.edu.sg.